


You Have New Star Mail!

by sircantus



Category: DanPlan, Slime Rancher (Video Game), actuallyoddplan
Genre: Add another AU onto my ongoing list, Fluff, Gen, Hosuh-centric, I mean all the letters are addressed to him so, I might write his responses we'll see, I might write this out as an actual story, Letters, Slime Rancher AU, Some heart warming moments, The chapters are pretty short but that is the point, The plot is slow going but we will get there, The story is mostly told through letters tbh, i think, one day, or at least an attempt at some, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:00:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 3,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25964755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sircantus/pseuds/sircantus
Summary: Slime Rancher AU! Hosuh lives on the Ranch, alone and figuring things out. Throughout his adventure, though, he gets plenty of letters.Said letters paint a pretty good story of everyone around him, and on what is going on back on earth.(A story in which I go "lets make plot, but make it in little snippets of funky letters")
Relationships: Hosuh Lee & Daniel Lim, Hosuh Lee & Ivu | Zerinchii, Hosuh Lee & Jay Ko, Hosuh Lee & Stephen Ng, Hosuh Lee & Yannadraws, Ivu | Zerinchii/Hosuh Lee
Comments: 22
Kudos: 24





	1. A Good Morning Call

**Author's Note:**

> Slime rancher is my favorite game of all time, and I have so, so many AOP AUs, so what's another one? I made an outfit design for Hosuh on my Instagram (@bitter_honeycomb) I was planning on just making doodles, maybe a lil comic. Then my brain went "What if-" and here we are.
> 
> Enjoy, haha.

Hey Hosuh,

Good morning to you! What’s it like to sleep for a whole year? Did you dream anything crazy? I can’t imagine what that must be like. Getting put into a pod, and then lights out for all that time...then waking up on a whole other planet! It must be insane.

What’s the Far, Far, Range like? Have you started exploring? Is the air as clear as they say? I bet it must be beautiful. 

I’m probably asking too many questions, I bet you have a lot of work to do right now. I still can’t believe that ranch is yours now. 

Yanna says hi, and also asks for a picture of a slime. She’s been very persistent about that one.

Well, I’ll end this here. Write back soon!

-Love, Ivu


	2. A Rancher's Hello

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hosuh gets a warm welcome from a fellow rancher. He has no clue where said rancher even lives, but he's happy to get a hello anyway.

Hey! Hosuh, isn’t it? My name is Daniel Lim, although go ahead and call me Dan, that’s my usual nickname. I’ll keep this letter short on the account that I have tons of work to do on my own ranch.

I’ve been a rancher here for a pretty long while, I started when I was pretty young too! If you have any questions, you could come to me, or any of the other ranchers. I’m sure they’d be able to help you out. 

Well, I’ll cut it short here, we both have tons of work to get to! You’ll probably be getting a couple hellos from the other ranchers over time, so keep an eye out for that. 

Best of luck, Hosuh!

-Dan


	3. What's it like?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hosuh gets a unexpected letter from someone. He's fairly sure Yanna stole Ivu's computer while she wasn't looking.

Hello! Ivu finally gave me her computer! Now I can rapid fire my questions, hehe.

What’s the ranch like? What slimes have you seen? Have you ran into a tarr yet?! That one I really want to know, there’s only so much the general internet can give me, and you can have a first hand experience with one. That’s awesome.

I won’t lie, the curiosity is killing me. Also good morning, I think. Since you did wake up from a year long nap. I’m still waiting on that selfie with a slime! Preferably a boom slime. That would be a funny picture. I’ll hang it up on my wall.

It’s been kinda weird without you around, to be honest. Ivu has been doing well, though, if you’ve been worrying about that. As for me, I’ve been busy. School, and all that jazz. I’ve met a, uh, person. 

I’ll elaborate later. I’m sorta on a time limit. (I may have gotten this computer without permission)

But remember that selfie!

-Yanna


	4. Someone's Hello

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hosuh takes a small stroll outside of the ranch to explore the new land. He finds a holographic note. After fending off a few slimes who seem insistent on getting his attention, he reads it.

Hello, Hosuh!

My name is Jay. I’m a rancher, explorer, and I also was the owner of said ranch that you now take care of. Nice to meet you.

I was a rancher there for, well, only a few years. But even with that ranch and the Far, Far Range, I had explored it all within a year, and knew it like the back of my hand. I won’t lie, I had gotten bored, and was looking for more adventure, so I’ve set out to go find it. But, before I go, I’m looking around this place one last time, while also leaving a few notes for you as I go.

Hopefully said notes give you a fun little view on the land around you. Granted, a few of these notes probably won’t be in easy to find places, so you’re going to have to put some work in. That should be fun, won’t it?

You better be taking good care of that ranch. I know I put a lot of work into it. Oh, but then again, when I left, it probably did get a little rundown. Eh, I’m sure you’ll take care of it though. You seem like a hard worker.

-Jay 


	5. Warm Welcome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hosuh is in the middle of rounding up some stray slimes on the ranch when he gets a new notification.

Dear new rancher,

Hello! My name is Ann, all the fellow ranchers have been buzzing about you lately. We haven’t gotten someone new since Jay, and I’m going to go ahead and assume that you’ve met him already. If not, you will, don’t worry. He’s probably curious about you too. 

I’m glad that his ranch is finally getting someone to take care of it though! Last time I visited that place, it was just sad and dusty… Maybe I’ll swing by sometime to give a gift. Like a little potted plant or something. You could put it outside of your house. It’ll look nice.

Have you had any trouble with the slimes lately? I know that when Jay first came, he got knocked out by a tarr on his third day. Then he got pushed into a pond and passed out on his fifth day. A day after that, he fell off a cliff, too. I swear, his first couple of weeks, he did not have  _ any _ self preservation. 

Haha, I’m probably embarrassing him right now! Oh, don’t worry, I’ll tell plenty of his stories later. The point here is that newcomers always struggle on the first nights, so don’t be afraid to reach out to us fellow ranchers! We may be a little far away, but I know that if you need me to, I will be at your ranch in an hour, tops. My teleporters tend to be finicky, but I’ll be there! 

Let’s see, what else? Be careful! I’m hoping that you aren’t as impulsive as Jay and are looking to run head first into something you barely know. 

Oh! Also, has Stephen messaged you yet? Or Gavin. Ah, you’ll meet them eventually. They’re nice, Stephen is always convinced he’s the best out of all of us (he’s so not, oh, the stories I could tell you) and Gavin is plenty friendly. Oh, yeah, they’re brothers, by the way. If you ever get around to visiting them, the both of them will be fun to talk to.

I think that’s all? I wish you the best of luck on your first week! I’ll tell you if I plan on visiting any time soon. 

-With best wishes, Ann


	6. Rushed Greetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hosuh finishes up a day of work, and goes inside to rest for a bit. He gets a new notification as soon as he sits down.

Hi, Hosuh!

Man, it has been a while since we’ve gotten a new person. I remember when Jay first got here! Ann would be rushing over three times a week because he had a habit of getting knocked out all the time. (He hates it when we mention it, which is why I will definitely be telling you ALL the stories when I see you in person) 

By the way, I’m Gavin! Me and my brother have our own ranch that we’ve been taking care of for the past couple of years. As you would probably know firsthand, it’s not exactly easy, but it’s been fun! 

I would ramble on about me and Stephen’s adventures, but I have to make this quick. Last week a tarr infestation broke out in a part of our ranch and me and Stephen have been trying to replace the lost slimes these past few days. It’s tedious work. Even right now, Stephen is knocking on my room door and yelling that my break time is over. (It’s not, I have 5 more minutes, I checked.)

But I’m glad you’re here! Coming all the way to another planet to take care of slimes isn’t something that most people would want to do, but us fellow ranchers are happy to have another person on the team. 

Okay, okay, I should probably get going before Stephen breaks my door. (He has done that before, totally was an accident, but he wouldn’t stop apologizing for  _ hours _ .)

Reply back soon!

-Gavin


	7. Teenage Adventures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hosuh wakes up on his third day of being on the ranch. There's a new message from Ivu waiting for him.

Ha! Good to know that even though you’re the proud owner of your own ranch, you’re still clumsy from time to time. Getting hit in the head by a slime isn’t something I can really imagine vividly, but knowing your luck, it sounds like you. Be sure to duck next time!

I’m glad to hear that you’re settling in okay. Also, yes, Yanna grabbed my computer while I wasn’t looking, that little gremlin. I leave to go get something for just a few minutes, and she’s gone from the dinner table, hiding in my closet with my laptop in her hands. 

Well, at least I know she’s eager to talk to you? 

The Far, Far Range sounds incredible. Even with your descriptions, I can’t imagine such a colorful and lively place. Maybe you could send pictures over. I know Yanna is still waiting on that selfie.

As for us, I’ve been working at the hair salon, Yanna has been in school. She’s gotten up to her own fair share of adventures, I had to go to a teacher meeting at her school last week, she apparently had somehow snuck a lobster into class with her friends. A. Lobster. 

I have no idea where she gets these things. I’m fairly sure they don’t sell lobsters at the local store? By the way, we have a pet lobster now. She says it’s name is Bob. I’ll send a picture later.

There’s a lot I could tell you about this past year. Surprisingly, though, Yanna has been spending a lot of time at the library with her friends these past few months. I like to think she’s studying, but they’re probably on the computers there, now that I think about it. At least she isn’t trying to catch pigeons again. 

-Love, Ivu


	8. Colorful Sunrises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hosuh explores the dry reef, comes across a tabby slime, accidentally kicks a hen hen, watches tabby slime devour said hen hen, then spots one of Jay's glowing notes at the ledge of a cliff. 
> 
> 10 minutes later, after some difficult climbing, Hosuh sits down with his legs hanging off the edge, and reads it.

The thing about the dry reef is that it’s plenty colorful and all that, but have you tried climbing up the cliffs during a sunrise?

Okay, I  _ know _ how Ann is, she’s probably already warned you of my slight mishaps when I first got here, but in my defence, most of the time it was a slime pushing me and making fall down, I swear.

The sky is beautiful during sunrises and sunsets, though. It’s different in each place, but if you get high enough, the view is wonderful. Just watch your steps. And watch out for stray slimes. 

Another thing I would recommend? Keep the areas with only a few slimes. By that, I mean, don’t hesitate to fling a couple of them into the ocean every now and then. It’s fine, they probably just swim happily around in there. Maybe. 

Either way, don’t let the slimes pile up too much outside of the ranch. All it takes is for nighttime to fall, a couple stray plorts, and suddenly there are three tarrs chasing after you at once and you get stuck up on a ledge until sunrise because you don’t have any water with you. 

Uhg, my first days were a headache. 

A splash of water keeps tarrs away, keep that in mind. But also if there’s more than three, I would recommend turning the other way and running, unless you want one of them to chomp down on your arm. It won’t take your arm off, but you’re going to end up having a bunch of band-aids.

-Jay


	9. Friendly Distance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hosuh is the middle of fending off a tarr when he gets a notification for a new starmail. The tarr gets a bite on his arm, but he's able to splash some water, drag himself back to his house, slap some bandaids on and take a much needed nap.
> 
> After waking up, he remembers the starmail, and sits down to read it.

Hi, Hosuh!

I will take you up on that offer for the plant pot! Do you like painting? I have plenty of pots I painted myself at my own ranch. Other than, well, taking care of the slimes, we all have different hobbies. I know Jay is always exploring around the land for new places. He likes to map down the areas around him. (Although I know for a fact he still gets lost even with that.)

Gavin plays slime ball, which is basically basketball, but with pink slimes. Him and Stephen have an actual hoop set up at their ranch. I’ve seen it, and honestly, it’s a lot of fun, you should try it.

I know Stephen tinkers around with some tech he’s working on (last he told me, he was making drones!) and I think Dan just usually writes up research for his slimes in his spare time.

That reminds me, did you know every now and then we schedule a rancher meet up? It’s not that often, and usually doesn’t last long, but sometimes it’s nice to have all of us together in one spot. Maybe we’ll plan the next one at your ranch! Keep an eye out for that one.

Hope you aren’t too lonely on your first days at the ranch. I doubt you can really be that lonely with the slimes, though, always trying to jump and get your attention 24/7. 

I know it probably sounds like I know everyone really well, and to be honest, I do! There aren’t that many of us around here, and even then, we’re pretty spread out. But that doesn’t mean we can’t bond and make friendships. 

Oh, here’s a question I asked everyone when I first met them. 

Why did you decide to come here?

-Ann


	10. Confident Hellos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hosuh finishes up a productive day, and gets ready for bed. He lays down for about three seconds, then he has a notification that there's a new message. After debating for a minute on whether he should ignore it or not, he goes to read it.

Hello, new rancher! Stephen here, you must know who I am at this point, and if you don’t, get educated.

Unfortunately, while I’m writing this, Gavin is sitting next to me and he keeps looking over my shoulder and yelling in my ear about how I need to “make a good first impression” so, nice to meet you! I’m sure you’re a wonderful person! (Gavin shut up)

I would have written to you sooner, but I got distracted with the usual work on the ranch, and I’m pretty sure Gavin already told you about our tarr situation. Better late than never though, so here I am.

I...do not know what I’m supposed to put here. Gavin is the one who’s usually messaging the other ranchers, not me! I stay working and being in charge of the ranch. 

Speaking of work, I’ve been testing out this one device for duplicating hen hens. Said device also usually has a 50 percent chance of obliterating the hen hens into nothing, but the other 50 percent of the time, you get twice as many hen hens! It’s super efficient. Sorta.

I’m working out the problems. I’ll send one over to you, expect a package to be dropped by drone later on this week. Don’t worry if the box hits the ground harshly, it’s durable.

Well, I think that’s about it. Till my next message!

-Stephen


	11. Mystery Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hosuh wakes up abruptly after having a dream of life back on earth. He takes a little longer than usual to get up this morning. There's a new message waiting for him as he gets ready.

A what? Yanna hasn’t mentioned anyone “special” these past days, so I’m not sure what exactly that’s about. 

I did ask that last night though. She spoke too quickly and the only words I got were “pretty” and “friends” and then she ran into the wall. She then ran to her room after that.  _ Someone _ might have a crush. That or she’s just running into walls. (Honestly, can’t tell with her.)

I’ll let her write a message on my computer next time, maybe she’ll tell you about it. If not, I’m going to have to give her looks for the entire day until she cracks. I’ll tell you how that goes.

As for the library visits, that’s been her usual hanging spot for a while. I mean, her grades are steady, I’m actually not sure if she’s studying or not. The first few times I asked, she just said that there were a lot of interesting things there and she found it fun.

She started going about a month after you left, but she was just bringing a bunch of books back the first couple of weeks. Then she started spending a lot more time there after school, and even during the weekends sometimes.

I was thinking that she was reading to distract from missing you. Although, she might have met someone.

Aw, I’m getting sad, change of topic. How’s the ranch? 

Do you know all the slime names by memory now? I know Yanna does, sometimes she talks about that at the dinner table and I’m wondering if somehow  _ she’s _ the one who traveled to space, instead.

-Love, Ivu


	12. Ocean Nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hosuh finds a dock by the shore of the ranch. It's dusty and a little creaky, but the sound of the waves are calming. He finds one of Jay's notes at the edge of the wood.

Don’t bother fishing in these waters, or swimming, or really anything that you would do in a normal earth ocean. This water is  _ weird _ , and probably partially made of slimes, honestly. (It’s also not drinkable. Don’t try it.)

I did actually try fishing once, off the edge of this dock. I had sat there for a good while, then something actually tugged at the line. Ended up just pulling up a stray pink slime from the water, which was a bit disappointing, but better than nothing, I guess.

The way the ocean goes on and on really does make you think, though. I remember sitting here, legs dangling over the water, in the middle of the night, looking up at the bright moon. Made me think of the actual oceans, back on earth. Shame we can’t see those any time soon. I don’t really miss it, but also kinda wish I could see it, if that makes sense.

You know, I’ve met each of the ranchers around here, and they’re all plenty nice. And you can tell each one has a reason that they came here.

Some are looking for adventure, glory. Others have nothing to lose and just thought it’d be fun. Others are running away from something. Either from problems back on earth, or something in themselves.

Well, if you’re running, can’t get farther than here! We’re across space, on a whole other  _ planet _ . That’s about as far as you’re going to get.

Even though you can’t respond to these notes, Hosuh, here’s a question.

What are you running from?

-Jay


	13. Playing Favorites

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hosuh is tending to crops, like usual. Then a giant box comes falling out of the sky. After screaming and falling backwards into the dirt, he finds it's just Stephen's weird machine thing. He drags it inside, and after putting the box to the side, he finds that there's a new message from Ann waiting for him.

What do you mean you don’t know why!? Well, I mean, I can’t really judge, I also kinda came here on a whim, tending to slimes sounded fun, but surely you have a reason?!

Give me that dramatic backstory, Hosuh, I gotta know! Honestly, though, you seem like the type of person who doesn’t have any dramatic backstory. Kinda boring, I’ll say that.

Did you have friends on earth? Family? No wait, I’ll probably make you homesick with those questions. I mean, same, I get sad from time to time about earth too. I left a friend.

We regularly chat, though, and we’re both happy with our decisions, so, actually I’m not that sad about it. He’s thriving, and so am I. 

Thrive, Hosuh! We’re on this incredible planet with these adorable little creatures. Granted, said creatures can be a little annoying to deal with occasionally, but this is the type of experience that you gotta embrace! 

Oh, by the way,  _ I _ heard from Gavin that Stephen is apparently sending you one of his machine thingies by drone. 

First off, lucky! Second,  _ HOW _ ?!

I have literally sent like a million messages begging and bartering for  _ any _ of his machines, they tend to be kinda useful and really cool. You didn’t even ask for one, and he’s sending it anyway! I have a feeling  someone is playing favorites. 

Unfair, Gavin is my favorite now. How does that feel, Hosuh? Ha!

I take it back, you’re all my best friends. Although, I do feel slightly betrayed.

-Ann


	14. Dark Skies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's daytime for Hosuh when he gets a message about stars. It makes him squint at the sun and wish for the day to go faster.

Do you remember when we first started going out on dates? Looking up at the stars, talking amongst ourselves? I remember you brought little sandwiches the first time. It was cute.

I tried showing Yanna the same stars the other day. There weren’t that many as I remember when we were younger. 

Are there bright stars up in the sky over there? I bet the night sky is beautiful. You could probably see everything over there, the sky being so clean as it is.

I can’t remember the last time I looked up at the sky and tried looking for stars. I guess I fell out of habit when you left. It’s not the same. You’re not here, and the sky is too dark.

Smoke came up to the city the other day. I know I shouldn’t tell you things you’ll worry about, but it’s alright, me and Yanna stayed inside for most of the day. Air quality is probably going to be a bit bad for the next week or so, but it’ll clear. It always does.

I’m being all sad, ah, moving on.

Send pictures of the stars, why don’t you? I’ll show them to Yanna. Knowing her, she’ll probably show her friends too.

Oh, that reminds me. I had told Yanna about stargazing earlier this week, right? Well, two days ago, she told me she was going out with a friend, I think her name might’ve been Lex?

But it’s cute, she was actually a bit nervous, saying the two of them were going to climb a roof and try spotting the stars themselves. (She assured me it was Lex’s roof, don’t worry. Knowing her, they would definitely be climbing someone else’s roof.)

Apparently she had the constellations written down and everything, how is that she knows so much about everything but earth? I swear, it’s like once you left, she decided learning everything off world was much more important than anything else. 

-Love, Ivu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see in the description, I'm trying to make a update schedule for my stories! :D Although with like four different stories and another new idea in my head, who knows how that'll go D:
> 
> Comment are super super appreciated!!!


	15. Passing Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hosuh has a slow day, and keeps to his ranch. After getting a message from Gavin, he finally sets out on really exploring the new area around him.

Hey, Hosuh!

Happy official one month of being on a whole different planet! I would throw confetti, but we’re miles away and then I would just have to pick up confetti off my floor. Just know that if I could, I would definitely throw confetti. I hope it’s appreciated. 

Here’s to being here for, well, until retirement! By then we’ll be all old and sitting on our porches, being all grumpy at the stray slimes that refuse to stop jumping around.

I gotta say, I’m honestly surprised you’ve been doing really well with the whole rancher thing. Maybe it’s just Jay having given the whole “newbie rancher” impression, but from what I heard, Ann hasn’t even had to go help out once. Which is cool, I’m glad you’re being cautious with the new surroundings.

Man, I can’t tell you how we all felt each time Ann gave an update that Jay had passed out by falling off a cliff, or falling into a river, or getting attacked by tarrs, ect. We were worried, of course, but it was also everyone individually sending essays to Jay over email to stop flinging himself into danger and to get a sense of self preservation.

I don’t even  _ wanna _ get into how it was when he came across boom slimes.

By the way, speaking of those, how have you been with the whole ranching thing? I still can’t believe that ranch belongs to you now. Jay seemed to have sold it so suddenly. I still think of it as his rather than yours, haha. 

I’ll get used to it, eventually. Last I heard of him, he had no regrets, so I hope you’re taking good care of it.

-Gavin

**Author's Note:**

> As always, comments of any sort of appreciated :P 
> 
> Thank you for reading.


End file.
